Happy Wednesday y'all! And happy last day of February! How has another month come & gone?!! This year will be up before we know it. I'm not sure how time slips by so quickly. Anyway, I'm back to continue on our adventure around New York City. Today is all about one of the beautiful parks in New York, Bryant Park.

Bryant Park is located in the same block as the New York City Public Library. They are back to back actually. The park is especially beautiful & bustling in the winter months with the Christmas market & ice skating rink. The beautiful Bryant Park Christmas tree is also a real treat!

We enjoyed a sweet little stroll around the park after browsing around the outside of the library. We started by browsing around the sweet little Christmas market. The market had indoor booths for each vendor, making for cozy spots to get warm. The "mini shops" boasted everything from sweet treats to Christmas decor & cards to jewelry & bags, all sorts of fun bits and baubles to browse through.

After strolling around the market, we enjoyed seeing the surrounding buildings, the beautiful carousel, and the famous Bryant Park fountain. Nestled in the middle of the park is a fun ice skating rink set up for the winter framed by a beautiful Christmas tree adorned with lights, ornaments, and a stunning star upon the top.

The ice skating rink was insanely packed, but that is too be expected in the middle of December. Though we skipped ice skating ourselves, the wait here was far shorter than at Rockefeller Center. We also visited mid-day, so I would suspect that arriving earlier in the day would provide an quicker time to get on the rink.

Bryant Park is truly stunning with the dreamy carousel, statues, the beautiful fountain, and more. But visiting in the winter is an extra special treat! Will you add this to your New York itinerary? Thanks for stopping by. I'll be back Friday with our walk across the Brooklyn Bridge!

Hello again! I'm back for another Tip Tuesday. Although today is more about my personal thoughts than tips, you can take these and run with them as motivation for why you should travel!

I have been thinking about these why travel is a priority for me, and why I want to keep it a priority for our growing family. I could ramble on and on and on why, but I narrowed it down to 5 important reasons. Educate. Experience. Excite. Explore. Enjoy.

Educate

There is no better education or opportunity for personal growth than to experience new places and people in the world. Open your heart, mind, and eyes, and you will quickly grow and learn from your new experiences. It can be scary. Learning something new always is. ​You'll realize just how independent you can be, just how connected the world and people are, and just how incredibly good and beautiful this great big world is. Put yourself out there, and watch yourself grow!

Experience

As a young adult, I often heard how bad the world was, how bad people are. But once I got out there and experienced it for myself, experienced new cultures, connected with people different than me, and explore unfamiliar places, I realized immediately that this world far more good than bad, and that we are all more alike than we realize! There are so many incredible cultures out there that we can learn from, we shouldn't shut ourselves off in a box or bubble of comfort. See for yourself just how much good & beauty the world and her people have to offer.

Excite

A very important reason for me, to excite and inspire others to go out and experience the world! It is the #1 reason I got into the travel business. I want people to feel what it is like to experience and appreciate new places.

Explore

Explore new places. What are the mountains like? What is the desert like? What is the ocean like? Go out there and find out! There are so many beautiful places and terrains to see, go explore them!

Enjoy

Lastly, and most importantly, to enjoy life! Life is far too short to spend it dreaming and never doing. Working but never enjoying. Life is meant to be lived, do out and live it! Make memories with your spouse or significant other. Make memories with your children. And make memories for yourself! You can make more money, but you can never add days to your life, so enjoy it!

Like I said, I could go on and on as to why I think travel is so important and choose to make it a priority, but I hope these few reasons can give you an inkling of the passion it brings me. And hopefully spark a fire in you to travel as well. It is something you'll never regret! Even in tough travel situations, there are always lessons to be learned and good to be found.

Thank you for indulging me today. I truly hope you enjoyed today. See you back tomorrow!

Welcome back y'all. I hope your Friday is going well, and I hope you enjoyed yesterday's post about the 9/11 Memorial in New York. Today, I am back to share more. This time more in depth about the National September 11 Memorial Museum. The memorial I shared about yesterday and the museum I'm touching on today are located in the same area of New York City, where the original twin towers stood.

During my first visit to New York, we actually didn't realize there was a museum, so we completely missed out on that experience. I hate that my mom didn't get to see it, but I know we'll go back again for her to visit. However, I am truly grateful I was able to experience this humble place during my second visit to the city.

The 9/11 Museum is located under and around the original twin towers, and gives us a closer look of the events that transpired that fateful day and the days, weeks, months, and even years to follow. The museum, along with the memorial commemorating the names of those who perished, also gives us a look at the 1993 attacks on the World Trade Center.

The museum is undoubtedly the most difficult place to visit in regards to the 9/11 sites as we hear voicemails from those who were on the plane calling their loved once for what would be the last time, learn more about the individuals who perished, see crumbled steel beams & fire trucks, unimaginable photographs, and artifacts that were on the persons of those lost. There is so much more to the museum that what I've pictured here, as in some places I didn't want to take photos, instead just focusing on the tragic events, and in some parts of the museum photography is not, rightfully & respectfully, allowed.

If you plan to visit the museum, which I highly encourage you to, allow yourself 2-4 hours to really take it all in. And know that it will be difficult and mentally draining, but it will be worth it. You'll learn more first hand knowledge here, and really get a better grasp of the magnitude of the events than you will from any other source, aside from personal, first hand accounts.

There is so much to learn and understand and fathom, which we cannot, at the 9/11 Museum, and I honestly cannot put into words my true feelings as a whole about experiencing the museum & memorial for myself. It is that of anger, astonishment, bitterness, solemness, beauty, love, pride, and so much more all wrapped into one very messy package. Unfortunately, these events are a very large part of our current world and country's history, but fortunately we live in a country of love, sacrifice, and determination to make it a better place each & everyday. I believe that is what is shown here at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, and those characteristics cannot be taken away with attacks of terror & hatred.

I truly hope you feel inspired to add the 9/11 Memorial & Museum to your New York City itinerary. I know that you will not regret it. Thank you for allowing me to share such a special piece of New York and my heart with you. I will see you back next week for more of this beautiful city!

Welcome back! I hope you enjoyed Tuesday's very important safety tips. Today, I'm back to dive into sharing the real details of our trip, my 2nd trip, to New York City. To start out, I want to share about our experience at the 9/11 Memorial, and tomorrow I'll share in depth about the 9/11 Museum.

In my opinion, the 9/11 Memorial & Museum are absolute musts while visiting New York City. This was at the top of my husband's must do/see list, and we spent quite a bit of time there taking it all in.

The bronze leaves of the trees really set the tone for the memorial at the time we visited, and were really quite a beautiful site. The beautiful swamp white oak trees cover the grounds and surround the memorial pools to really bring peace to the area. You can read more about the carefully selected trees here. I even a Christmas ornament of a bronze leaf I purchased on my first visit to the memorial in 2013.

Speaking of my first visit, you might wonder why I made a point to take a photo with Peter L. Freund. On my first visit, his name stood out to me. A white rose was placed in his engraved name, which I later learned meant that day was his birthday. Though we were about a week early to visit on the same day, I couldn't help but visit him again as his name and story touched me so much. This go round, I was also able to learn more about him at the 9/11 Museum which I'll share about tomorrow. The museum really brings the names on the memorial pools, and helps us remember these are more than just names. They are people, once living, thriving people with families and livelihoods that were taken far too soon. Other names that really stand out on the memorial are those with unborn children. I am so glad that these precious babies are acknowledged, remembered, and memorialized along with their mothers on the memorial. It is a tough pill to swallow, but it is the reality of that fateful day. The terrorists took no regard for human lives, not even their own.

Though the 9/11 Memorial is a difficult place to visit, it is also a beautiful one. I believe the designers have done an incredible job of creating a space that is warm & welcoming all while paying due respects to those who are gone. The architecture of the two memorial pools, which are exactly where the twin towers once stood, is impeccable. The waters begin flowing at the names, and flow to the center into the earth.

It is also quite difficult to imagine the massiveness of these pools until you see them in person. It is almost overwhelming to grasp the thought that two once strong buildings crumbled in this very place that is now a beautiful homage to those lost. The 9/11 Museum really puts it all into perspective, making it an essential place to visit during your time around the memorial.

Though it is a sad, solemn place, I hope you can appreciate its beauty as well. Beauty in eternal life and in the future. If you are traveling to New York, please consider making this a stop during your visit. You won't regret it.Thank you for stopping in. I'll see you back tomorrow for more on the 9/11 Museum.